Critical Role Tales
by VerBeek
Summary: A series of short stories, based on events from Critical Role. Will not be regularly updated, and is mainly for fun, enjoy.
1. Goodbyes Part I

Molly felt it all slipping away, the life he'd built for himself, separate from the past he didn't care, no didn't want to remember. Would-would he remember it now, would it all come flooding back as he passed on for what would make the second time. This felt familiar…in a calming sort of way.

He opened his eyes and all that looked back at him was blackness, unending, unaltered darkness.

Maybe-maybe he would return once more, after all, he knew next to nothing about this ritual, maybe he would awaken once more wounds healed, returned but then he wouldn't be Molly, would he? Any more than he now was Lucien if he returned in the fashion he did before…would his memories remain or would a new person crawl its way into existence. None of his memories…not even of the rest of his friends…shit his friends!

Beau would probably move on, she'd, she'd hated him, yeah. Caleb and Nott were trickier, the latter more so…he'd liked them both well enough tried to impart his manic wisdom upon them…would they mourn his passing? What of the other who they'd set out to save? Had they seen him die too? Fjord seemed the tough type he'd move on but he'd probably carry the memory of him…or Molly hoped he would. Jester…god the poor girl would probably cry for days, she couldn't have faced the death of a friend before…not with all that naivety. And Yasha, his oldest friend, his last tie to his first home, they'd been through so much…and no he wouldn't be there to see her free once more. That one cuts him the deepest.

Suddenly a single pinprick of white light appears before him growing wider and brighter u til suddenly an abnormally large Raven soars our of it. It lands before him and as in a moment that feels like blinking it is replaced with a black-haired half-Elven man. Great black wings protrude from his shoulders and he gives off an aura of brooding contentment…which sets Molly just a bit ill at ease. As Molly looks up into his piercing grey eyes of this man, no this is something much more than a regular man he finds his mind strangely shifting back to thoughts of Caleb.

"Lucien." The figure says, his voice calming and kind.

"It's Molly actually." He replies, trying and failing to pop a coy smirk.

"So it is." The figure says with a slight nod of his head, "Mollymauk Tealeaf then, I have come to lead you home."

"So that's it then." Molly says, his shoulders slumping slightly, a little bit of his hope slipping away, "My stories done."

The figure stands there silently for a moment, staring at him before suddenly the scene shifts and the time of them are standing in a field, the very same field Molly just died on. Snow has begun to fall as Molly's comrades, watch Lorenzo walk away, he and Beau trading one last Barb, though Molly can't hear what is said.

"In truth Mollymauk, that is entirely up to them." Vax'ildan, Hand of the Raven Queen says, nodding towards them as they all stand entranced by the sight of Molly's body.

"Though if I must be honest, I thought you'd like to hear their goodbyes."


	2. Goodbyes Part II

Molly stood and watched as his friends came to motion after his death…and the most vivacious one of them…he honestly expected the least.

"Where is his tapestry!" Beau roared, the question seemingly flying right through Keg's ears who mumbles out the name of the Iron Shepard's hideout.

"Beau." Molly mutters, stunned as he watched her rip the tapestry free "He was our friend! He wasn't your fucking friend! This is ours now."

Molly is stunned for a moment, the dashing figure at his side looking at him with a knowing smile.

"You seem surprised." The figure states, watching him closely.

"A bit." Molly states, honestly, "We didn't get on that well."

Molly turns back and watches Beau beginning removing items from his person, first his cards. Then the parapet, which she briskly handed to Caleb, who had the look of a man who wanted to raise every kind of Hell.

"He said not to steal from happy people."

Nott's voice draws him in as this tiny Goblin girl, who he'd tried to help down a better path refused to take any of his numerous baubles.

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Beau asked In a hurt, accusatory voice.

"No…I just can't steal from him." Nott stated, a sad smile crossing her face. He beamed with pride, as the world began to shifty ever so slightly.

The scene seemed to blur for a moment, Beau's voice reaching his ears.

"He claimed he left every town better than he found it." She stated, tears beginning to leak down her face, "And when I heard that I want to call bullshit."

Molly began to laugh, only for her next words to stop him cold, "But he was right."

The words became garbled once more, this realm he was trapped in feeling like it was trying to push him away but he fought through it.

"He was still allowing people to feel good, to feel special."

"At least I can't fuck anymore shit up."

Molly watched as Beau stared up at Caleb, with resolve he'd seen a few times before…but it shocked him to the core of his being that she was now set to model herself after him. By actually giving a fuck.

The entity beside him seemed to hear every thought, "I believe your little friend Nott, said it best, "It's usually the people you least expect."

The world blurred again, the scene changing to Molly watching himself be buried, his body wrapped in his tapestry, his money and swords being taken after some deliberation and finally the letter being slipped into his pocket, that simply read, "Come to Xadash and ask for the Gentlemen and the Mighty Nine. Your name is Mollymauk Tealeaf."

He watched in silence as they buried him, his coat being left behind as a marker for his resting place and so they hoped a gift to him born again once more.

"Long May He Reign." Their send off to him…one they didn't believe to be final.

"They think…they think I'm coming back."

"You have lived a strange life Mr. Tealeaf." The figure states, "After all not many people get a chance like yours."

"Will…will I get another?" Molly asked, turning towards the figure, whose face had become a slightly cold mask.

"I…I do not believe so no." The figure replied.

"But they still need me." Molly challenged, "They need someone to watch out for them, they need…"

Before he could finish his entire world is shunted several feet ahead and several moments forward in time. Standing before his friends is a tall motherly Firbolg, who exudes this sense of caring, calming, just downright pleasantness.

This Nila gives Molly pause in his tirade as he watches her begin to warm to his group…this aura of calm and clarity seeming to settle over them.

The figure beside him speaks up a touch of pride in his voice, "I've always found that a Druid's hands are usually the best hands to trust a couple of wayward souls with."

"So that's it then?" Molly asked, looking over at his companion, "Is this were we shove off?"

"No…not just yet." The figure states with a slightly mischievous smile.

Molly is then treated to an image of Beau using his money to buy her way past a checkpoint, buy booze and companionship and he honestly couldn't have been any less mad.

But the true moment came in a tiny ramshackle room with Nott and Caleb.

He only grabs snippets and sections of their conversation but everything he does hear fills him with hope and love for his…his fucking family damnit!

"Mollymauk was sort of amazing. He showed me something. He has this spirit of life that was amazing!"

"He was a rainbow man full of life."

"It's because I love them. We need to rescue them because we are a team now."

"I want to find them because I don't want to go back to the shadows. I want to live."

"I thought you needed to hear that." The figure states, giving Molly a deeply sincere smile.

"Thank you." Molly, tears tracking down his face.

"You're on the right path." A voice cuts through to him, and Molly looks up to see a young man with verdant green eyes and a sly smile looking directly at him and Vax. Despite this the figure is clearly talking to Molly's friends, the smile never fading.

The same sky voice sounds in his head, "I'm just sorry you won't get to join them on it. Jester is going to miss you dearly."

"Who-" Molly begins to ask only to find him whisked back to the sight of his death. His black winged companion his wonky company.

"Was that," Molly asked, staring at the entity.

"A…friend I guess you could say." Though the tone of the figure made it sound like anything but.

"It's time for us to be moving on Mollymauk Tealeaf." The figure states, offering him his hand, "Your friends are in…capable hands."

"I…I sincerely hope so…you know I never got your name." Molly stated as he reached out to grab the man's hand.

"Vax'ildan Vessar." The figure states, firmly grasping the tiefling's hand.

"Charmed," Molly states before his entire world goes black.


	3. Roar

Yasha awoke, alone, surrounded with pillows in an empty cart. Snapping upright she looked around confused and realized that her surroundings were not that of cold stone, the muffled cries of pain and sickening laughter, but instead, the calming presence of snow draped forest, with only the wind and the soft murmuring of familiar voices to keep her company.

The last thing she remembered was, well, the pain, horrible searing pain. Yet as with every time the bastards she had tried and failed to fight off came for her, she remained silent. Refusing to give them any satisfaction, hoping quietly that the longer she held out the more punishment she'd levee on her and not her fellow captives. She had barely made out Fjord and Jester's cries of protest, most of her focus, her burning, fiery focus on Lorenzo and his compatriots. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. Would. Die. She stated this silent mantra, again and again, thinking of continually more gruesome ways of returning all the pain they sent against her. Lorenzo, who's very presence set her blood boiling, Rizza with her cuttingly honeyed words, Protto…a sick little shit and that woman, who'd stolen her sword, she'd go first, followed by the others slowly, intimately one by one.

But now she was free, and in the distance, she could make out all of her friends, which meant…the bastards were dead. They had to be dead. Disappointment filled her for just a moment before something flashed in the winter grayness that turned her blood cold.

She stepped off the cart, watching Jester place something on…on a grave with a single marker…with…with…no..this was a dream, a nightmare. Another cruel trick by Rizza.

She'd remembered being forced to sleep once more, a deep sleep filled with shouting, "Molly!" numerous voices had called out, fear and heartache erupting from them all. Flashes of her past had filled her dreams, dark, cruel memories…cut through every so often by voices, cries of pain and shouts of victory…

Beau shouting with all her might, "FUCK HIM UP!"

Then silence, and then someone breaking down in uncontrollable tears.

Then more silence, more blackness, interrupted by a familiar voice, drunk on pain. "Hell of a day."

And now the Mighty Nein turned to face her, Jester's normally happy face marred by tears, Beau and Fjord staring at her in a mixture of pity and their own sadness, Caleb with Nott in his arms turning to face him his eyes somehow even more downcast than usual. Yasha barely notices the other individual despite how outstandingly garish he is, like Molly.

Yasha is so intent on the grave she barely hears Caleb's words, "He tried, he tried so hard to get to your side, he tried very hard."

"It happened again." That's all she can mumble as she collapses to the ground atop Molly's grave.

"It's chaos, be kind." She suddenly remembers one of the first times they talked, or more truthfully Molly talking to Toya, explaining to her in his quite limited experience with the circus that life at times simply was just not fair.

"It's chaos, be kind."

Kindness did not come easy, forgiveness did not come easy, but the grief, the rage they came all the easier now. She feels tears beginning to track down her face, her whole body is shaking in grief and anger, so much that she barely register's Jester and Beau at her side trying to comfort her.

In that moment…she snaps. Her wings unfurl, her vision goes black and she screams in defiance and fury at how the world continued to take from her. Had she not given enough?! Had she not fallen far enough?! Why take her best friend! Why take his brash confidence and absolute love of life?! What had he done to deserve this?! What had she done to deserve this?!

And in that moment of pure unyielding grief, she hears him.

_"Come."_

And there in the sky, lightning flashes, thrice. Beckoning her once more down a lonely path.

And she doesn't resist, how could she, he pulled her out of hell before…he can do it again.

"Yasha." Beau and Jester call out to her, but she doesn't look back, she can't bear to see their faces. She can't bear to look back. So she holds up a hand.

"I will find you when I'm ready."

They say nothing, or if they do…she can not hear. The cold and snow envelopes her in a chilling embrace as she sets off alone. She walks for what feels like hours, alone with her thoughts and the distant sound of thunder.

There is an abrupt "Caw." as a Raven, larger than she has ever seen alights in the trees before her, it sits there for but a moment before disappearing in a flurry of feathers, dropping something at her feet. Looking down she finds a silver moon…one of the baubles Molly wore on his horns. Bending down she gently picks up the pendant, affixes it as best she can above her heart and walks on, Black Wings racing towards the Heart of the Storm.


	4. After the Storm

Yasha stared out over the waves as the Ball Eater drifted closer and closer to Nicodranus. They were heading away from Uk'Otoa…and Fjord's past. To say the past weeks had been challenging would have been an understatement. She was used to challenges though…after all that had happened, she could afford to be…unprepared. Not after Molly…not after Zuala.

She sighed, clenching the railing tightly as memories started to crash against her barriers. She rubbed the back of the hand she'd used to grasp…had it been the soul? The heart? of that creature the Stormlord had set against her…she wasn't sure. She still felt the nip of electricity in her arm…numbness followed by a soft buzzing…it felt odd, she had to admit but it reminded her of her triumph…if she had, in fact, triumphed that night. She was still uncertain and telling the truth to Jester and Caduceus had only allowed more memories…both wonderful and painful to seep back to the surface. She wasn't sure why she'd laid it all out before them…yet in there presence she'd felt so secure…so safe, had it been their faith the one thing they shared in common that had spurned her on…or had it been Jester's wide blue eyes filled with concern, and Clay's disarmingly delicious "dead" people tea.

"Molly would have loved to meet him." Yasha thought, staring up at the sky as several gulls winged past, also making their way to the coast.

She stood there silently, staring into the waves, as a memory…a beautiful one this time sank its hooks into her and dragged her back…back to Xhorhas…back to Zuala.

"Look there!" Zuala exclaimed excitedly, pointing deeper into the swamp, "Do you see it?"

Yasha wasn't looking where she was pointing, finding herself lost in the excited smile that had split Zuala's face in two, her eyes glinting excitedly in the moonlight.

"No…I," Yasha fought to say something, anything as Zuala turned to her, her eyes drawing her deeper into a stupor, "No, what is it?"

Zuella smiled softly, and then pointed ahead, this time Yasha managed to pull herself free of the snare she found herself in and turned to spot a massive mushroom, glowing a deep alluring blue in the darkness.

"Doesn't it look amazing?" Zuala asked, taking a cautious step forward, though why she was nervous around a mushroom Yasha couldn't figure.

"Uh…yes." She agreed, "Would…would you like me to grab it for you?"

"No!" Zuala had exclaimed grasping Yasha's arms tightly before she could have even take a single step, "It is very poisonous, you could get hurt."

Yasha smiled slightly, "I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"Ah yes, nothing scares the Orphanmaker." Zuella taunted, "No…it is quite beautiful…but it is incredibly dangerous…somewhat like you."

Yasha had taken the leap at that moment, kissing her deeply, excitedly, honestly…the first of what would be many, a truer love she had never known before.

"And one…I will never let go." Yasha muttered to herself, as she turned from the sea to spot her comrades coming to the deck, all of them filled with nervous energy as they got closer and closer to the city.

Looking over them all, she felt the same feeling of dread, that now dogged her every step. There would never be another Zuala she had promised…and then she had lost Molly. She couldn't bring herself to make another promise of protection…for fear of the universe, luck, fate whichever seeing it as a challenge.

Their disappearance had hit her harder than she yet to admit to them, perhaps that was a reason she'd finally spoken of Zuala.

The first day she had been slightly worried, as Marius had raced over to her saying the "Captain" and the others were nowhere to be found, nor was that mysterious little gnome girl.

The second day they were lost within that strange ball, that had been decided to be the culprit, she had begun to feel the first true feelings of fear, as flashes of Molly's grave taunted their way across her mind.

With each following day, she worried more and more for their safety…and if they would ever return, and if when they did…she'd have another hole opening in her heart.

_A tear stained smile, a whispered "I love you.", Rage, Fear, Running. Thoughts of pain and remorse had begun to consume her…until an unexpected relief had found its way to her._

"You alright chere?" Orly asked, his remaining eye looking her up and down.

"I…I'm worried…the last time I wasn't with them…we…lost someone." Yasha had muttered out, staring at the sphere, it's strange clicking her chipping away at her self control, as part of her raged to grasp the thing in her hands and force it to bring them all back to her.

"I..I'm sorry m-miss." Orly stated, turning to stare at the ball, "But…I get the feeling that things will turn out alright."

"You do?" Yasha had asked, turning to face him.

"This has been a crazy ride, I will admit…but I don't think this is the last you've seen of your friends." Orly stated, "You've done some m-mighty crazy shit in the time I've gotten to know you…whatever this is…I'm sure they'll find a way out of it."

"You are sure?" Yasha asked, her faith returning.

"As sure as I can be with y-your friends." Orly stated, smiling slightly, "Get some sleep, chere, we can't do m-much to help the captain and your friends at the m-moment, that's true…but letting worry eat away at you isn't going to do any good."

And they had come back…beaten, depressed and tired…having not even realized how long they were gone, Nott and Jester desperately clutching each other, and the others looking utterly consumed with guilt…but they hadn't said a word to her, all going there separate ways to unwind…and rest.

They'd survived a dragon without her…but it definitely hadn't been easy…and the next time she could at least swear she would be with them, whatever came next.

Staring up at the gulls wheeling overhead, she caught sight of a Raven, heading in the opposite direction out to sea, though it seemed to pause for a moment as it sailed above the ship.

There was a light caress across her cheek, and she felt her hand tingle once more, though this felt different, somehow familiar, and then as the raven flew away it disappeared.

"I…I love you," Yasha stated softly, she turned to face her friends, spotting Clay smiling at her warmly, his eyes flicking towards the Raven as it flew away.


	5. Matters of the Heart

"Hello, I am Nott the little Goblin girl, and once I was Veth Brenotto."

She stared up at the others, Caleb was devastated yet silent, Beau and Fjord were staring at her with intent interest, Jester was staring at her with her big blue loving eyes, Yasha was silent off to the side, and Clay was smiling contently, though his eyes showed true concern.

"I was a little Halfling girl once, and I was always told…what I wasn't. Not pretty, not smart…just not."

_"Hey, freak!" Veth turned around quickly, hiding her latest find behind her back as a pair of human boys, and a small halfling boy walked up to her, the biggest of the group sneering down at her, "You steal anything today?"_

_"I-I don't steal…" Veth muttered, staring at her feet as he nervously backed away from them._

_"Oh yeah? What do you have behind your back then?" He demanded, taking an aggressive step towards her._

_"None of your business." Veth fired back, looking around slightly scared as the other human boy began to walk around her._

_"Probably a frog or bug or something." That boy said, smiling at her his two front teeth missing, giving him an audible lisp, "Something ugly like her?"_

_"Guys…come on…just leave her alone." The halfling boy piped up, flinching slightly as they both turned on him._

_"Shut up Yezza." The bigger boy commanded, turning around to face her, "Geoff, get what she's got."_

_She tried to run but for once her bully was too quick, and he caught her. He forced open her hands and pried from her hands the odd, beautiful gold shelled beetle she'd found by the river. He held it up to show the other boys, the larger one laughing cruelly._

_"Knew it'd be something weird, though it's much nicer to look at than you." He scoffed, smiling as the tears began to brew up in her eyes._

_"Knock it off." Yezza stated angrily, marching up to the larger boy, "She didn't do anything to us, so why are you acting like such…such…an ass!"_

_The boy turned around, even at that young age looming over Yezza, "Oh look at that…Yezza finally got brave! What is it? Do you like her? Think she's pretty?"_

_"You hear that!" He had shouted, calling the other kids near the river over, as Yezza had blustered and blush, "Yezza has a crush on the oddball! You want to kiss her Yezz?"_

"We became friends, and eventually you do what you do…and we were married, and we had a baby boy…Luke."

Jester spoke up, "Was he right? Did…did you die?"

"I-I think so."

The others stare at her wide-eyed, a mixture of confusion, sadness, and worry.

"There was a really bad winter…and the goblins raided more and more, and eventually, they took me, and Yezza and our boy."

"Yezza is a very bright man but he is not a fighter. I'd been chased a lot my life…so I was pretty fast. I broke off and took a different way. The goblins followed me…and they surrounded me, and I fought."

_"I love you. Go!" She'd yelled, pushing her husband away…the last time she would see him…now maybe forever. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, kissed Luke on the head, and then ran making as much noise as she could to draw the goblins towards her. _

_"Ge' her!" Guttural shouts in broken common and Goblin following her as she ran before out of the brush a black furred worg erupted out of the woods in front of her snarling viciously._

_She ground to a halt, whirling around as the glowing yellow eyes, snarling maws and pointed spears surrounded her, before separating as a bigger, one dressed in bone armor with an elaborate head-dress walked towards her._

_"Nowhere to go girly." He'd snarled, taking a step towards her, "Whatchu gonna do now?"_

_Her only response had been to chuck the acid into his face and watch as he fell backward screaming gutturally as the others raced forward and beat her into the dirt._

_"Make her suffer."_

"This river is important…because this is where I was drowned. I can still feel the water entering my lungs." Not said, looking up at them all, watching as Fjord's face contorted into something hard and angry but his eyes were filled with shame, while the others were mainly shocked and saddened.

"And then I woke up and saw this…and I had become everything I had always been told I was, not pretty, not good, just _not_."

She looked up at the others, Jester offering comforting words with a sincere smile, Fjord's happy-go-lucky jack ass of a persona falling away as he became adamant about the protection of her son, Clay offering her solid advice and taking away the drunken haze that had come to define her, and she felt so, so much worse, yet her eyes and the world around her had zeroed in on Caleb, who was looking down at the ground dejected.

"I should have told you…you could have understood. I just didn't want to distract you from your path. I don't want to force you to do anything…but I _need_ you now!"

He looked up at her slowly, his eyes broken yet there as always was that hungry light and bravery that he tried to hide deep down inside.

"You're name is Veth?" He asked, to which she nodded, "My name was Bren Aldric Ermandrud_. Was._"


	6. Romance?

Jester turned over to look at Beau with a big smile, "You know we read all these books and stuff…and that's not at all the way love is described in the books that we read!"

She waits for Beau to agree with her or say something alike but instead she watches as her friend turns towards her with a piercing, yet confused look.

"You…you mean the porn books that we read?" Her deep voice sounding slightly accusatory but mostly confused, "Those?"

Jester feels the confusion on her face before she asks the question, "Well, are, are they like porn though or are they just the way relationships are for real though?"

Beau stares at her silently for several seconds, but Jester can see the worry beginning to creep into the lines of her face, "Well…uh…"

Jester realizing this was going to turn a place she didn't want it to go interrupted her in a flustered barrage of words even as she felt her own face grow warm, "It's-okay-we-don't-need-to-talk-about-it tonight! I know everything already! It doesn't matter!"

She quickly turned over unable to face Beau her face burning with warmth as her friend let out a flustered exclamation but Jester's imagination was already taking over.

"It's not romance!" She screamed to herself, flustered and confused and scared. She remembered all the times she had spied on her Mama, enraptured with her voice as she sang and entranced whatever person had been graced with her presence. She had heard them whisper sweet nothings…but they had to have been like in the books right?! Maybe Beau didn't know…I mean those books she had found and read at her Mama's and on the road, …they were so charming! Grandious exclamations of love, and all the flirting, it was so enchanting!

_Maybe you're wrong_. A voice said creeping in from the back of her mind…and as it did she couldn't help but think of Fjord and her face began to burn even more.

He was so _confusing_! He was so charming, when he wanted to be, and handsome, I mean obviously, and adorable, his little _tusks_. He didn't like her…though, that was clear like he hadn't even made a move yet, except…except for the _kiss_. She touched her lips for a second…but did that really even count, it had been a moment out of her books…so romantic and larger than life…and then nothing. Nothing more, he was just being friendly, trying to fix her food, smiling at her, just being friendly…but now it was starting to hit her. No, no Veth and her husband had been so…friendly. No grandiose statements or great exclamations, just hugs and smiles and small jokes between them…if that…if that was romance…did that mean…Fjord…

_The blushing came back with a vengeance but she fought it off, this was all so confusing…but it made her just a bit happier to think about._


	7. A Raven's Cry

**(Spoilers for the Dalen's Closet One Shot, I really enjoyed that final scene…but I felt like there were a few other characters that deserved more proper goodbyes.)**

"I wish that Vax'ildan can say a few words at his sister's wedding." The voice of a friend, power resounding in every word as it fought against the Divine Gate reached his ears and that of his Lady-Matron. She turned to look down at him for but a moment, before beckoning him towards her form, into the darkness beneath the cloak.

He walked free of the blackness that surrounded him, appearing on a pristine cliff side the sound of waves crashing against its base far below. Looking up he spotted…those he'd left behind, sadness, shock, and joy rolling off the like an encompassing fog. Like a beacon, his sister shone with the light of the Dawnfather, resplendent in her gown as tears began to well up in her eyes. Standing beside her Percival, slightly worse for wear, drenched in seawater stood staring at him with a hopeful but as always carefully coached expression, Pike stood before both of them, turning to look at him with…regret, tears welling in her eyes as well. Grog towered over the rest an unabashed wildly pleased smile on his face. Vax's heart had not beat for over a year, but he knew if it still could it would have stopped when he spotted Keyleth standing beside Percy, shock in her eyes, tears on her cheeks soft sobs wracking her body. Lastly, his eyes fell to Scanlan, who stood there smiling his, "I've done a very good thing" smile his eyes misty as well.

"Scanlan Shorthalt." He spoke, his voice raspier and slower than it had once been, a gasp from his twin causing him to pause longer than he had meant to, "You are toying with the designs of the gods still I see, old friend."

For a moment the bard looks stunned, for once unable to find the proper words. When he finally spoke his voice was raw, "I didn't have a present so…"

Several members of his family laugh just a bit sadly at the joke, and once he would have joined them, instead he simply sought to give them a bit more peace of mind.

"She will allow it." He watched as Scanlan's face morphed into an immense grin.

"Okay." His friend half-whispered, much of the tension fleeing his form.

"And thank you." Vax finished, turning ever so slightly away but finding himself not fully able to look at the face of his twin as of yet. She meanwhile fought for his gaze, stepping towards him several times before back-peddling, crunching the bouquet in her hands, her whole body shaking.

"Hello." He said, slowly turning to face her.

"Can you come over here?" His sister pleaded, and with that, whatever kept him from looking towards her broke. He felt a soft smile break across his face as she looked him over, gesturing plainly to remove the mask he now wore. As he slowly pulled it free of his face, he watched as her own face broke into a wide tearful smile.

"Am I allowed to hug him." Vex pleaded, to no one at first before turning to look at Scanlan, who shrugged stammering out, "I don't know how this works."

Before the bard had finished speaking however his twin had pulled him into a desperately tight embrace. Slowly he embraced her as well, nestling his head into her shoulder. She laughed, light and happy and then he spoke.

"I am so glad for you." As the pulled apart still embracing each other's arms, a true smile on both of their faces, "A child!"

The joy within him eclipsed anything he had felt in quite some time as his sister laughed, nodding her head furiously.

"Yeah, a little girl," Vex stated, still shaking, still on the verge of tears, but happy, so very happy at that moment. Vax felt the threads behind Creation pull and he could see his niece in the years to come growing, learning, being loved and giving it. It was to be a beautiful experience, one he would only be able to watch…from afar but still there would be beauty in her life, and within the lives of the many de Rolos that would follow her.

"Like our mother," Vax stated, knowing full well who she would grow into.

"Yes, named after her," Vex stated, her smile melting away as the tears came rolling down, "I miss you so much!"

"I know," Vax stated, speaking more truth in that sentence than he ever had in life. His sister continued to sob, her body shaking with grief as he reached out and stroked her cheek, wiping away tears as he did so. She looked up at the caress, his comforting smile greeting her.

"I am no longer worried for you." He stated, turning to look at Percival who had been managing to fight off the tears, a soft smile on his face, "I know…the de Rolo family is born anew."

Percy continued to pleasantly smile, while a laugh and grin fought its way through his sister's tears.

"Congratulations on this your first, of _many_ blessings Percival," Vax stated, eliciting another joyful laugh from his sister.

"Thank you." Percival stated, leaning in ever so slightly, "Talk to her idiot."

Keyleth laughed at that, and once more Vax felt as though his world would stop at that moment, even as a smile crossed his face, "Thank you."

He turned back to his sister and stared for a moment. Which was shattered by his sister suddenly shaking him, yelling as she did so.

"Don't be weird! Talk normal, talk normal!" Bringing a smile to his face, which coaxed another from her.

"Don't worry about me." He stated, drawing another laugh from her, "I am sage and taken care of. I am always with you."

"I know." Vex stated, her voice ever so slightly dejected, "I know."

"You will live," Vax stated, not just to her but to all of his found family, drawing tears that streamed down Pike and Keyleth's faces, wistful smiles from Grog and Scanlan and sighs from his sister and her groom.

"As long as all of your hearts are beating I will live within them." He continued, his sister nodding along with his words, "And my love will never dim."

He focused once more solely on his sister, and he could feel the ghosts of tears and his own grief welling up inside, "How beautiful you look."

"I am so _proud _of all of you." He stated once more to all of them.

"Turn around dear." His sister stated, pushing his face ever so slightly to look at Keyleth who had stood silently, weeping only feet from him. From deep within a wave of guilt rose as he looked at her standing with grief-stricken serenity.

She couldn't quite look at him, and he found himself once more not fully able to look at her, and at that moment the side he had grown to know the past year took over.

"Hail to the Tempest." He stated, bowing low before her.

"Don't be weird!" His sister demanded, slapping him on the back of his shoulder, "Go hug her!"

Keyleth's laugh cut through the tension, and he rose to face her fully. He moved, sliding towards her and embraced his beloved fully within his arms his wings encompassing the both of them.

"Hello." Such a simple word, but the roiling meanings and emotions behind it carried onward all the same, "My love, my _home, _Zephra blossoms under your boughs as I knew it would."

"It's not the same without you." His beloved stated, sniffling slightly as she melted into his embrace.

"It will not be." He stated, the plain honesty of it all hurting him as well.

"How am I supposed to get over you if you keep sending Ravens to me?" Keyleth asked, looking up at him with deep, painful grief in her eyes, a dejected laugh on her lips.

He stood silent for a moment, still wrapping her within his embrace, and for a moment felt the need to take a step back only for her arms to lock around him tighter.

He looked deeply into her eyes, and smiled sadly, "I am…imperfect as are the Gods…"

A silence followed that had he not already seen eternity he would assuredly have felt was one until Keyleth broke the tension with a soft smile, and a softer touch to the bottom of his chin.

"That was my poor attempt at humor." She remarked sadly, "I'll never get over you."

"Nor I." He responded, once more with a truth he had never known in life. It was then that the kissed, a long slow affair his cold skin against her warmth, the Tempest and the Raven locked in one final embrace. They broke apart from each other, and Vax felt just a small hint of grief for the words that followed next.

"But you will live and your life will touch _thousands_." Over the grief rose pride, as he stared at the women he had wanted more than anything to be his bride, to be the mother of his children, to be his final home and saw instead her rising to become a bastion of safety, calm and leadership for generations to come.

"Thanks to you," Keyleth said, a sad smile on her lips as she rested her head against his shoulder.

He saw the threads branching out like the antlers atop of her head, he could see her finding new love, raising children that would not be his…though their futures could intersect with his in a number of ways, "Your children…"

He stopped as he watched Keyleth slowly and sadly shake her head, "I'll watch over hers…and her."

She looked up and he followed her gaze to his sister, who gave her own saddened smile.

"For as long as I live," Keyleth stated, already the threads of her future realigning before his eyes.

Vax pulled her in tighter, his head bowed as he whispered into her ear, "I am far but not gone."

"We know." Keyleth returned, nuzzling into his neck ever so slightly.

The grief and guilt inside him became too much to bear as the last words left his lips, "Forgive me."

Keyleth leaned back in their embrace and looked him deeply in the eyes. She began to shake her head, a soft smile playing across her lips, "There's nothing to forgive."

She kissed him on the cheek as she caressed the other, "Nothing. We get to go on because of you. It's not taken lightly."

He looked up and away from her his eyes falling on Pike, tears fresh in her eyes, "Your Grace."

"I…I'm happy to know that you're safe." Pike choked out, though her smile was as luminous as it had ever been.

He turned to Grog, a slight grin crossing his face, "De Doink."

Grog nodded, "Vax, I miss you _brother_."

He then looked out and found the crowd that had come to aid and then watch the marriage of his sister, spotting the shocked faces of Allura and Kima, tears in the former's eyes, while the latter gave him a lazy wave and just shook her head with a smile. Tary had taken a step back, for all his pompous air he had decided to not insert himself at this moment.

"You are doing good work," Vax stated, his voice a whisper but Taryon started as if it had been said by someone directly next to him. He smiled at Vex, wiping a few tears from his eyes and nodded, mouthing, "Thank you."

He then turned to Scanlan, who looked at him with the love of a best friend, mentor and well even the pseudo-father-figure he and his sister had thrown upon him. Vax smiled and intoned once more, "Thank you."

He stepped away from Keyleth and made to walk away from the group a bit when a voice rang out across the cliffside!

"Vax! Wait!" As he turned around he saw a small figure pry their way free of the crowd and then race towards him as fast as their legs could carry them. As if emboldened by that action two more figures broke free of the crowd and made their way towards him, one almost as frantic as the first figure and the last at a more sedative pace.

Velora raced towards him her brown hair bobbing frantically in the wind, the owlbear feather pinned within holding firm despite the speed at which she raced towards him. Tears were flying free of her face and falling to the ground behind her.

He knelt down, opening his arms as he did so as she fell into his arms with a joyful sob. He picked her up as he had done two years ago, her arms wrapped fiercely around his neck.

"You're back!" She cried, pulling away tears still streaming down her face, "I told Simon you'd come back!"

"For…for this moment yes I have returned," Vax stated, smiling softly at his younger sister.

"For the moment?" Velora asked, new tears beginning to brim in her eyes, "Why, why can't you stay?"

"I made a promise Velora." Vax said, wiping the tears from her eyes and moving a bit of her windswept hair from her face, "And one must always keep their promises."

"I don't want you to go!" She cried out, her grief magnified by how young she was, "It's not fair! Please stay! Please!"

Vax looked up at Keyleth and Vex, both with fresh tears in their eyes, "You're right little sister, it is not fair…but I will never be far from you. I am your big brother, and that will never change. The blood in your heart is the same as mine, and you will always carry a part of me with you, isn't that right Simon?"

The Belt in response to his voice unfurled, long and sinuous and curled up Velora's arm, his head bopping her playfully in the cheek, his tongue shooting out to lick away a few of the tears.

"Take good care of each other." Vax stated, and know that if you ever hear a raven in the middle of the night…it's a friend of mine making sure you sleep safe and sound."

"You're friends with Ravens?" Velora asked, childlike wonder briefly replacing her grief.

"I'm very good friends with their Queen." He returned giving her a soft smile, as he turned and spotted the others that had come up to him.

"Velora darling, come over here please," Vex said, opening her arms into a welcoming embrace which Velora greedily took to.

Vax turned to the second figure, his long ash-blonde hair also tousled by the wind, his young face marred with grief and anger.

"Kynan Leore…it's been some time since we last spoke," Vax stated, looking him deeply in the eys.

"I…I failed again sir." He said, refusing to meet Vax's eyes, "I couldn't protect the people I was supposed to."

Vax reached up and placed a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder, "I would never blame you for what happened here today. Nor would anyone here, I know as well as you that had Sylas Briarwood come for Lady Cassandra, you would have fought with every single ounce of your strength and spirit to keep him far from her."

"I…I don't deserve your praise sir." Kynan stated, still looking down at his feet.

"You more than almost anyone deserve my praise." Vax stated, "You have come far in spite of _me_, and I know that you're future will be one bright and filled with more than a few surprises."

Kynan stood up a bit taller but still fought meeting Vax's gaze, "I promise I'll do my best to keep your family safe, even though…they have much more capable guardians than me."

"You are more capable than you think, and despite your doubts of yourself I know you will continue to be more than worthy of that second chance," Vax said.

Kynan finally looked up, a few tears sliding free of his deep brown eyes, "Thank you Vax."

Vax then turned…and moved to embrace the final person, Shaun Gilmore.

"Shaun, I am sorry," Vax stated softly, as Gilmore hugged him, more sedated the Keyleth but still comforting and intense in its own way.

"Vax, the only thing you will ever have to apologize to me for…is being much too pretty for your own good," Gilmore stated, with a laugh on his lips and tears in his eyes. Keyleth laughed as well, a beautiful happy laugh.

Vax pulled away, staring at the man who had once had his heart, and who still carried within his own heart a love for him, and smiled ever so slightly.

"If you won't take my apology will give you something that you more rightly deserve instead," Vax stated, still smiling warmly.

With that, he kissed Gilmore on the forehead, and then whispered two words, "Goodbye."

Gilmore laughed, tears tracking down his face, "Thank you."

With that Vax stepped back, turning to look at them all, a single tear tracking down his cheek, his sisters, found, twin and younger, his found brothers, the young man who had only ever wanted to follow in his footsteps, the man he had once loved and the woman he still did and smiled, "Thank you. _Live_."

He looked over and spotted Trinket approaching, and reached out to scratch the great bear under the chin as he disappeared, "No, I didn't forget you boy, I know you'll take care of them."

Trinket huffed appreciatively, and marched back towards Velora and Vex, licking the tears off the former's face, eliciting a peel of laughter.

And as returned to the darkness beyond he heard Vex cry out on last time, "Wait! What about the boots?"

Another tear tracked down his cheek, his laughter joining the echoes of his friends as he was carried beyond the Divine Gate for the final time.


	8. Tears

**(Spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 2 Episode 77, DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE EPISODE!)**

"No!" Yasha screamed, as the Orphanmaker raised Magician's Judge and sliced clean through yet another innocent person. The blue and grays of the Cobalt Soul now utterly marred by quick-spreading crimson. These were Beau's people and she could only watch as her body…or was it actually her slaughtered them.

The portion of her mind, a memory or imagination of the spire she had been chained to in her vision from the Storm Lord, but there was no thunder now, no deep voice commanding her to fight, the only noise was her own struggle. He cries of anguish and rage, the sound of clanking chains as she fought against them. That's all it was in this place she'd retreated to, or been forced to…was this her? Was it her imagination? She surged against the chains that held her, fighting to regain control to force the Orphanmaker to put down their blade, or to even halt, but whatever Obann had done had strengthened her bonds. They twinned around her entire form, not just her arms, small barbs digging into her skin…or was the pain also just a figment of her psyche?

Another cry, as another person died beneath the Orphanmaker's blade. She remembered her time in Zadash, before the Dynasty…before Bazzoxan before it had all gone so very, very wrong. The people of this city had cheered her name…would anyone who might survive recognize her? Would any survive? If they did would her name be cursed from that point forward. Would their hatred of Xhorhas, of her people…be proved right?

A scream drew her attention back to the image of the outside, but she couldn't see a crumbled form before the Orphanmaker, instead she froze for a moment in her struggling as the disconcerting, burbling laugh of the Laughing Hand reached her ears. Whatever abomination that beast was deeply enjoyed their work, though part of her doubted that Obann could force that creature to do anything even compared to how easily he was puppeting the Orphanmaker.

The laughter of the Hand causes a flurry of memories to get dragged up.

Storm Lord, please let her friends be safe? Were they searching for her? Did they hate her? Would she see them again? If she did would….would they take her back if they could find a way or…or would their faces be the last ones she ever saw again?

_"Why?" _

Fjord's bloody face looking up at her in anger, confusion and just a bit of acceptance as his life teetered right on the edge of death. Blood seeped from numerous wounds across his body, and both the Orphanmaker and the Hand had been bearing down on him.

"I hear you." She said, and at that moment the Orphanmaker had missed their strike against her friend, a look of confusion crossing his face making her realize he had actually heard her.

She'd struggled and fought, cheered and wept as she had been forced to watch what happened next. Beau darting in to carry Fjord to safety, the door closing as the Orphanmaker raced forward, Jester and Nott reaching out for her.

"Yasha!" Jesters anguished cry had been the last thing she'd heard for a very long time except for the sound of steel against the stone and the sickening laughter of the Hand.

"Very good." Her struggling growing ever more frantic as Obann walked out of the portal and laid a hand on the Orphanmaker's shoulder.

But she hadn't broken free, the only show of her inner defiance, her vicious inner struggle the tears she could feel streaking down the Orphanmaker's face.

The Orphanmaker reached the bottom of the steps and there before them was Oban, disguised as a member of the Cobalt Soul desperately hunting through books.

She screamed, and struggled and begged, wishing against wish for her body to take the bloody blade clasped in its hand and take off his head.

"Vence fails to pull his weight." Oban spat, as he continued frantically searching through the books, "The Angel will see that I am superior."

The Angel of Irons, all this bloodshed, all this death, all in her name. She cursed her name, she cursed Obann, she cursed herself and continued struggling only for an excited smile that infuriated her even more crossed Oban's face.

"Juriel's remains were bisected, the heart was placed in the Lotus Den, the Skull was given to the Elves of Veluthil. Hand!"

His joy angered her more than anything and it also filled her with fear. More people were going to die. She fought with all her might against her bonds…but again the only sign of resistance was the tears in her eyes.

The Hand arrived, looming behind her, it's sickening laugh echoing inside her mind.

Obann looked up with a smile as he stood up, "Let's go find you another friend."

He clasped the Laughing Hand's great blade in his hand and reached out towards the Orphanmaker, to her.

She wanted desperately to chop it off, to rip his arm from his socket, to spit in his face, to do anything! Anything but gently take his hand as her body did.

"We're going to kill more innocent people." She thought, the chains tightening ever so slightly.

She had hoped her friends were safe.

But who was going to save the next people Obann set the Orphanmaker and the Laughing Hand upon?

Who was going to save her?


	9. Gone and Back Again

They'd tried, the diamond had floated above Fjord's chest, flickering with green light only for it to turn grey and dull, falling to their friends bleeding chest before burning away to ash, he'd learned.

He'd been brought back with little resistance, Marius letting out a loud a sigh of relief as he and Yasha pulled the Tortle into a seated position. Jester had latched onto the Tortle, joyous tears pouring down her face even as she couldn't bring herself to look over at Caduceus and Fjord's body, the Firbolg staring at the sky with a muted expression.

Orly started, "Hey there Chere, wh-."

He froze when he spotted the Captain.

Splayed across the deck, several gaping stab wounds in his chest, his blood being washed away by the hammering rain. His head was rested in Beau's lap, who had her head down and was visibly crying, her tears mingling with the water already pouring down her face. Caleb stood several feet back, staring into the waves beyond, his face hard, his eyes searching, hunting. Fire briefly crackling across the tips of his fingers. Not-Veth was kneeling beside Jester, rubbing her arms comfortingly as she sobbed into his wide chest. Yasha loomed above Fjord, her head turned upwards towards the sky, a flash of lightning illuminating her entire face.

"We can't fix this tonight." Caduceus had finally muttered, his normally calm and warm voice more dejected than the old Tortle had ever heard. The others had all turned to look at him, except Jester who had begun to cry harder.

"But we _can _fix this."

A single beetle flitted free of the Firbolg's staff, landing on Fjord's forehead and sitting there a green ripple of energy passing across his whole body.

Yasha had carried Fjord's body down into the lower quarters of the ship, past the rest of the crew who looked terrified and confused. Jester had detached from Orly and was now wrapped around Beau, who hugged her back tightly, both women failing to hold back their tears. Veth had grabbed Caleb's hand and lead him after them. Caduceus had remained on the deck, that tornado of beetles that still swarmed about, consuming what remained of the beasts that had killed the Captain. He waited for Orly to pass, supported by Marius and then made his way below.

The Nein piled into Jester's room, laying Fjord's body down on the bed. The insisted that the crew join them in the room as cramped as it would be, Marius, Gallen and the Newbie had grabbed their things and curled into a corner. Caduceus had sat in a corner facing the bed, slowly, fitfully falling to sleep sitting up. Veth, Beau and Jester had curled into a ball next to the bed, the other women wrapping around Jester protectively. Caleb had threaded a wire across the door, but he and Yasha had not entered the room. They sat sentinel outside of the door, and Orly heard them speak quietly throughout part of the night as he fought for sleep.

_Scrabbling on the side of the ship, the tortured scream invading his dreams, the blade finding his flesh_

He awoke the next day to clear skies and found that Gallen had taken the helm, while the Nein were arrayed on the deck

He walked up onto the deck and saw Fjord lying on the deck his head resting on Jester's lap, his sword lying across his chest, Beau off to his right and Caduceus to his left. The rest of the Nein stood with solemn expressions.

Caduceus produced a larger diamond and began to chant, green light shining as the diamond began to float, sigils of green, and pink and blue burning their way across the deck, the sents of fresh tea, sugary pastries and old grapes drifting on the wind.

Beau spoke first, "You told me…you wanted to stay with us. That we had to stay together. That you wanted to repay the favor for helping you find your path. You're invested…and so am I but I don't think I can do this without you here. So you had better come back, Captain."

She laughed slightly, tears running down her face. She reached out and placed her hand over his heart.

Caduceus spoke next, "This isn't your time. You changed, you started to find your path and this is nowhere near done. There is no closure here. She has plans for us, and I want you there to see them. Come back to us."

He sighed softly, looking towards the sky and then placed his hand over Beau's.

Jester spoke last, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes as her fingers traced through his hair.

"We talked once about how the prettiest things often hurt you the most, but I never thought I would hurt _this_ much. You, heh, you were my first friend after the Traveler and I…I…I can't even begin to imagine what my life would be like without you now. So please, please Fjord, _come back_."

_The colors began to swirl, and in the moment the others moved in, Veth placing a hand on Jester's shoulder, Caleb Beau's, Yasha Cad's, and at that moment Orly felt a compulsion to play like he never had before._

He immediately began to play his pipes, the sound taking on an almost ethereal sound as it echoed across the waves. He stared down at Fjord's form as the light continued to shine.

_"This group ain't the same without you Cap'n, come on back now."_


	10. Memories

**Memories**

The images shifted about the dome, bathing the party in amber light as they swirled and danced around their heads.

Yasha was lying with her back to the group, her eyes avidly taking in the image of her and her wife.

The stood arm and arm, staring off at some unknown horizon, Yasha looking much as she did now, though Caleb had managed to carve true happiness into her features

Zuela was indistinct, but she could hear her voice in the wind, see the light glinting against the long tresses of her hair, feel the cool touch of her skin on hers.

She could taste their first kiss, feel the fear and joy bubbling in her heart once again as sleep began to claim her.

As she watched another image lazily floated past her eyes.

Of Mollymauk, with a wide grin on his face, arms outstretched looking at the rest of their friends before they knew they would be friends. That they would be family.

"_I have never seen a group of people more in need of a little entertainment!"_

His joyous voice still rung in her ears, all the nights they'd spent together, enjoying the company of another whose past was a stranger.

She smiled to herself, and turned back to the image of her and her wife, finding herself drifting into sleep.

* * *

Beau had tried not to watch, but she couldn't help but feel her eyes be drawn over to Yasha in the corner of the Dome. Part of her felt like she was intruding, part of her felt oddly hollow, and another part felt a stirring of joy when she'd watch Yasha go wide-eyed when she entered the Dome.

She smirked slightly as she hunted for her own memories, seeing an approximation of herself getting her ass beat, which admittedly wasn't far off the mark.

Caleb had put her kiss with Reani up amongst the coasting constellations of memory, which again stirred that odd hollow feeling.

Beau found herself thinking about her, her bashful smile and rose in hand, the squeaking nervousness in her voice. She wondered how she was doing if she was still with the Clays.

But again one image stole her attention away, and perplexingly she began to feel a little less hollow.

It was her meeting with TJ, kneeling on the cold floor of her former home, staring down at this little toddler who she saw a fair amount of herself in.

Fjord had been right, which was more common than he gave himself credit for Beau figured, there had been no hate in her heart for TJ.

"_Hey, little man."_

She could still feel his little arms wrapping around her neck, the warmth of his body pressed against her chest.

She loved him, and that had been so bafflingly painful in the moment, but now on this beach the threat of losing that memory looming over them she cherished it more than anything as she felt sleep taking her into its grasp.

* * *

Clay let out a happy sigh as he laid out next to Beau, resting between her and Fjord.

His life had gone so far off of what he had believed it would have always been.

The memory of Caleb, Beau, Veth, Keg, and Nila drifted in a slow halo near the top of the dome.

That was when everything had changed, he'd finally taken agency in his own life, and what a life it was turning out to be.

His eyes tracked over to him placing Dweth'var into Fjord's hands and felt a surge of pride.

He saw his talk with Caleb and Fjord over fish and chips in Nicodranus, and felt a hint of nostalgia wash over him.

And then his eyes fell on him being embraced by his entire family. That wouldn't have been possible without the people laying in the sand around him. For that, he would always be thankful.

But a bit of worry crept into his heart, he'd been bereft of his family for so long, not knowing what had befallen them. He missed them still, even though he knew they were safe from harm or at least hoped that was so.

The thought of losing them once more, not knowing where they were, this time due to his memories being shorn away was not a comforting thought, but he found himself being lulled to sleep regardless.

* * *

Veth watched Caduceus begin to snore after staring up at his family for some time and looked up to her own. She was nestled between Jessie and Caleb, Beau resting next to her feet.

Above her head she found her eyes tracing across all of the tiny moments that had been captured between her and Caleb. Their kiss, which still caused a stirring of feelings that she could do nothing with.

Her emerging finally as herself with the Nein around her with enraptured smiles.

Her hugging her husband beneath Rohsona.

Her embracing her son as herself with Yehza next to her grinning madly.

She hunted for the image Caleb had conjured, her holding an infant Luc and she felt herself being drawn into that memory.

_A squealing sob filled the night as her son drew breath for the first time. Sweaty, tired, with tears of joy in her eyes she couldn't help but let out a little sob as Edith placed her baby into her arms._

"_There you are dear, a healthy baby boy." Edith had stated, with a misty-eyed smile._

"_You are a wonder." Yezha had muttered as he pressed his lips to her temple, "Look at him, Look!"_

_He had been so overjoyed, squeezing her hand as tears of his own filled his eyes._

"_Hello, Luc." Veth had stated, pressing a kiss to his temple, "Welcome home."_

She smiled softly, finding her hand falling into Caleb's as she finally laid down to sleep, muttering a soft, "Thank you." that she wasn't sure he heard.

* * *

Caleb heard her, and a small smile crept across his face but he was lost in his memories.

He needed to remember.

Maybe more than everyone else in this room he needed to remember.

He was being torn between the memories of his home, his old family, his friends, his new family, joy and pain, sorrow, and love battering against each other in his heart so furiously he actually began to ache.

His parents smiling, walking arm and arm with Astrid and Eodwulf, kissing Essek on the forehead and so many more.

And then he froze, as a memory he didn't remember crafting floated before his eyes.

He and Astrid, young, so close to love, dancing with each other at some ball they'd been made to attend.

"_You were always a better dancer than me Astrid."_

As if bidden by his subconscious the image changed.

Bren disappeared, and Caleb appeared.

And Astrid...she changed slowly, almost agonizingly into Jester with a wide smile on her face.

He gave her a slow look out of the corner of his eye, taking in her wide purple eyes still slightly red from the tears, the nervous twitch of her smiling lips, her hair splayed across the sand hallowing her horns as she slowly descended into the land of dreams.

"_Do you love her?" _

He remembered his conversation with Yasha even though it was not displayed amidst the Dome, he remembered his noncommittal answer, thinking then of Astrid.

But now as the figments of he and Jester continued to twirl and spin he began to reevaluate the question.

"I do," he muttered in Zemnian, drawing himself from Jester and back into himself.

He did so much it hurt, but she had far better options than someone like, no not someone, just him.

* * *

Jester sleepily watched Caleb curl up next to Veth and smiled, thankful for the support he'd given her today. She'd needed it.

She was also thankful, that from what she could see the Traveler wasn't amongst the pictures above their head.

That was good.

Or was it.

This was all so confusing.

She wanted to trust him.

She wanted to believe him.

But...she wasn't sure if he cared anymore.

He said that he did, but…

She looked over at Veth and Caleb, down to Beau, and then up to Fjord who was looking over them all like a sentinel.

She knew that _they _cared about her.

Images of their first meeting danced above her head.

She saw her Mama singing.

Her Dad smiling at them all from across the table where he'd drank acid and been a total badass.

She saw them all dressed in the fine clothes she and Caduceus had picked out, Yasha looking utterly beautiful while Fjord blushed beneath his oversized hat.

She looked back up at Fjord, thinking about the night in Nicodranus.

Thinking about his conversation with her earlier about the Traveler, wanting her to be safe.

Their talk before he'd turned against Uk'otoa.

Then back to the Jellyfish.

"_Do you ever get sad?"_

Him lying on the deck, lifeless, and the utter emptiness she had felt seeing that.

What was he to her now, a friend definitely but, the feelings were still there, changing shifting getting fainter but at the same time stronger, but now, now she wasn't even sure if he noticed.

Her eyes were partially closed, sleep beckoning her when she saw the image of the two of them floating with his lips pressed to hers.

"_Kiss him tomorrow, Fjord is ready."_

She sighed quietly, not sure if Caleb or her mind had conjured the image, closing her eyes as another floated by showing her embracing her Mama.

* * *

Fjord watched the others fall to sleep one after another, contented smiles on most of their faces, while Caleb and Jester's faces were set in slight worry.

He'd heard what Caleb had said to Jester earlier, and he was of the same mind.

He didn't trust the Traveler, and thinking about him hurting Jester through inaction or whatever set him on edge, maybe more-so than Vokodo.

He didn't have much he wanted to remember from his past anyway, long as the people around him stayed in his thoughts.

He looked about the memories, fighting a grimace at his image screaming as a giant turtle pinned him to a wall.

He felt a swelling of pride in himself as he saw a rendition of him chucking his old sword into the lava.

For once one of his spur of the moment decisions had gone in his favor.

He shook off the dark memory of the deck quickly approaching him, but he still smiled at the thought of Clay grinning tiredly down at him as he returned on the deck, the ghost of a kiss on his forehead.

He spotted his talk with Beau after another difficult night.

God he loved these people, this was more than he ever could have asked for.

"_I've had more life than I ever thought I would."_

A ghost of an image passed his eyes, him younger, standing before a taller man, indistinct but Fjord knew it was supposed to be Vandren.

"_Welcome aboard, get your things squared away, you've got a lot of work ahead of you." Vandren had muttered, giving him a once over._

"_Thank you, Captain." Fjord had stated, saluting him rather sloppily which earned a chuckle from the older man._

Fjord looked back down to the sleeping Jester. She'd always been the one to help him when it came to thoughts of Vandren.

She'd been the one to fully realize that he could be here, amongst the Vo.

She'd been so excited for him, but Fjord was nervous and uncertain.

He wasn't sure what the old man was to him anymore when compared to the Nein.

He looked up as Vilya entered the Dome, and sat down next to Cad, staring at the image she'd asked Caleb to conjure for her.

She lifted her hand, slowly as if she wanted to hold it, to caress it.

He saw the glint of tears on her face as she leaned back on the ground to sleep.

He knew he didn't want that, not for himself and definitely not for the others. The thought of Jester forgetting her Mother, Veth forgetting her own family, Clay too, Yasha forgetting her wife, Beau: her little brother, Caleb: his past.

They all had connections outside this group, but Fjord, fuck Fjord had them, thinking about losing the feelings he had for all of them was deeply unsettling, especially if it meant the memories of Molly went too.

He leaned back, sleep finally taking him, bringing his hand up to the holy symbol Cad had gifted him.

"This is my family," he muttered very quietly, as the images began to blend together until an image of Cad seemed to connect with the Nein's original meeting as he finally drifted away.


	11. A Tale of Home

**(SPOILERS FOR C2E107!)**

**(Turn back lest ye be spoiler masochists!)**

**(Final warning before the broadside!)**

Vilya stepped across the threshold, the air growing chill within an instant as she shifted not only locales but elevations.

She spotted a motley group of strangers staring at her from across this amphitheater-like space, but her eyes immediately went blind to them as her eyes fell on the woman standing before them.

Keyleth.

Her Keyleth, a grown woman, her mane of red hair just as untamed as when she was a willful teenager, wearing the Mantle of the Tempest across her shoulders.

Her little girl was grown up, and she wondered for the briefest of moments if her daughter even knew who she was.

That fear was dashed aside immediately as her daughter gasped and rushed towards her, mantle and hair whipping in the wind as her bare feet pounded a frantic tempo against the earthen floor beneath their feet.

The embrace is ferocious, hungry for an affection long left to starve and Vilya holds on for dear life as if expecting her girl to turn to smoke in her grasp.

"Mom?!" Keyleth cries, her head buried in Volta's shoulder, her voice choked by a bitter yet joyful sob.

"My girl." Vilya returns, tears welling in her own eyes and her voice cracking with a relief filled grief, "I missed you."

Keyleth buries her head deeper into her shoulder, and Vilya winces slightly as her daughter's antlers crown nearly pokes her in the eye.

"Watch the antlers." she jokes, eliciting a tear-madden laugh from her daughter.

Keyleth pulls away, clutching to her mother's arms frantically, "How...how are you here?!"

Vilya chuckles, even as tears drip down her face, "That's a long story."

She draws her fingers through the Mantle on her daughter's shoulders, "You've grown so much. My daughter the Tempest! I...I am so proud of you!"

She grasps Keyleth by the cheeks and kisses her forehead, eliciting and joyful gasp from her daughter, "That's a long story too."

It is then that Vilya becomes aware of the crowd standing around them, a host of wide smiles and tearful gazes standing waiting in the wings.

"Guys," Keyleth says, turning to look at them with that big dorky grin Vilya swore was drawn straight from her memory, "My Mom's alive!"

"We can see that Key." a tanned Half-Elven woman with long dark hair states, her eyes filled with a smattering of unshed tears.

"Mom this is Vox Machina." Keyleth said, gesturing around the crowd with a wide smile, "My other family."

"Vex'ahlia de Rolo." the Half-Elf woman stated, a wide but slightly imperious smile crossing her face, "But darling, you're family, so call me Vex."

Vilya nodded, turning to look at the man beside Vex who extended his hand to shake.

"Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the 3rd." he offered, grinning slightly at the baffled look she gave him even as she took his hand.

"O-oh." Vilya stuttered, blinking several times.

"Call me Percy." he finished.

"You're Keyleth's mum?" another voice interrupted and Vilya found her eyes drawn further and further upward as she stared up into the face of a doleful bearded Goliath.

"I am." she returned, gasping as he suddenly surged forward, dragging her off the ground in a bone-cracking hug.

"Welcome to the family!" he roared excitedly.

"She's already family Grog," Keyleth stated, fighting a smile at her mother's increasingly bewildered expression.

He froze for several moments, "Welcome back then!"

He set her down as she was able to draw breath back into her body and turned at the sound of an elated chuckle.

"You get used to him." a gnome man stated, dressed all in purple with a sort of smirking grin on his face, "Scanlan Shorthalt, at your service as is my wonderous, and beautiful wife Pike Trickfoot."

He gestured next to himself, where an admittedly adorable gnome woman with stark white hair rolled her eyes and gave Vilya a wide smile.

"It's so good to meet you," she stated taking Vilya's hand in a surprisingly strong grip.

"You're right to be proud of Kiki." Scanlan stated, "She's a world-renowned hero."

Vilya started, turning and looking at her daughter.

"Like I said." Keyleth said with an awkward shrug of her shoulder, "It's a long story."

"It's can't wait to hear it," Vilya stated, "But first is like to find your father."

"Korrin should be here in a bit if the twerps don't keep him anymore," Scanlan stated.

Vilya turned and stared at her daughter, noticing her face becoming slightly wane in older grief, "Twerps? K-kids?

"Not mine," Keyleth stated softly.

"She's an Auntie." Grog stated.

"Sorry, that took so long, I couldn't find any ale Gro-."

Vilya froze, as a familiar voice touched her ears, followed by a clattering of wood and shattering of clay cups, as she turned to see Korrin staring at her with a befuddled, but joyful expression.

She found herself caught in another sudden crushing hug, and as she melted into it she looked up spotting an overly large raven, who cocked its head as their eyes met. At that moment she swore that she saw a grin cross its beaked face as it winged into the air.

And she swore that carried on the breeze a voice whispered in her ear, _"Welcome home."_


End file.
